Bowl for smoking pipes and method of making same



United States Patent [72] Inventor Jolt W- Zll'lkh [56] References Cited gig? UNITED STATES PATENTS [2U W No 787,861 2 llz iscth 13113/ i [22] Filed Dec-3o, 1968 2,351,883 6/1944 s rs en". 1 4s Patented Nov. 10,1970 "F "214x 2,355,652 8/1944 lrvin 131/225X 2,385,312 9/1945 Swift l3l/225X 2,529,278 11/1950 Bowers... l31/222X 2,534,476 12/1950 Plesh 131/220 2,631,591 3/1953 Mariani l3l/214X Primary Examiner-Joseph S. Reich Anomey- Price, l-leneveld, Huizenga & Cooper [54] BOWL FOR SMOKING PIPES AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME nsrrmcr: A smokin pipe bowl havin an a erture in its 13 cmm4m'wh'g bottom wall, with relati vely thin plates 0% meta or the like [52] U.S.Cl. 131/172, secured in place on each side of the bottom wall in relative I 131/220, 131/222, 131/225 alignment, with central openings in each plate aligned with the [51] 1nt.Cl. A24! l/18, bottom wall aperture. The plates are secured in place by a A24f 5/06 generally tubular metal eyelet extending through the aligned [50] Field ofSeorch 131/172, openings and having enlargements at either end sandwiching 204, 205, 214, 220, 222, 225, 226 the plates and bottom wall together.

productionecono'mies.

- now]. masseuse rrPEs AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 1 BACKGROUND The present invention, although generally'applicable to smoking pipes with "bowls made of practically any wood or wood like material, is principally directed to pipes having corncob bowls, particularly pipes in which the corncob bowls are replaceable interior liner elements formetal or other outer v burn through in arelativelyshort length oftime. Also, the bot-" tom walls do not withstandthe scraping towhich pipe bowls are typically subjected.

For these reasons, it 'has heretofore been proposed to strengthen the bottomwall of acorncob bowl in any number of ways, generally by securing or resting afire grate of ceramic or metal inside of the bowl, at its bottom. To a certain extent, such approaches have been helpful, since the fire grates so used have proved the practicability of strengthening the weak central part of thecorncob in this manner. However, previous structures for thispurp ose have not fully overcome the entire problem encountered, in that they have produced undesirably high manufacturing expense, and they also have not been suitably secured within the bowl; hence, they have tended to fall out of placeafter a relatively brief periodof initial use, as

for example at such time as the smoker knocks the bowl of his pipe against an as htray or the like to remove ashes or partly smoked tobacco. i x r bottom wall l6,'which together define the familiar bowl with aaperture extending hollow inte rnal'eavity1l8in which a charge of tobacco is packed and smoked. As illustrated, the bottom wall 16 has an therethrough, located generally centrally thereof. I Disposed within the internal cavity 18 of the bowl, and

directly atop the bottom wall l6,'is a disk-like plate element tioned position by a generally tubular fastening means 24, in

the form of a metal eyelet having enlarged end extremities 26,

- 28 overlapping the plate elements and san dwiching them on either side of the bottom wall 16.

The method by which the bowl construction of the invention is manufactured is exemplified in FIG. 4. Whilethe manufacture may no doubt be carried out by different-specific mechanisms, it is preferred to follow this example inan assembly line-type technique. Firstly, a vertically disposed arbor 30 is provided having an upwardly-projecting tapered extremity 32 of reduced diameter, the beginning edge of which forms an annular shoulder 34. In the manufacture of the pipe bowl,

the eyelet 24, initially provided with its collarlike end enlargeof the eyelet resting against the shoulder 34 of the arbor. That is, the hollow cylindrical passage through the'eyele t encircles andreceives the extremity 32, preferably by serially advancing the eyelets to a predetermined position in an automated manner, at which point the arbor 30 is raised topie-kup each The present invention provides a novel approach toward the underlyih g problem 'stated a boveand solves this problem by l theprovisionof a riovelbowl constructionin whicha heat-re-' sistant plate is located in the insideof the bowl and a reinforcing plate is disposed'onthe dutsi'de of th'e'bowl, with means interconnecting the t'wo' sandwiching the bottom wall ofthe corncob bowltherebetw eemThe" construction so provided has manyald vantages Firstly, it is very securely-re tained in place,

and is not subject to being dislodged by any of the normal actionsto which it maybe subjected during use; moreover, it very effectively strengthens the normally weak bottom wall of the e orjncob bowl from eachside', and in effect converts the weak bottom wall to a very strong 'andsuitable member. Furthermore, andof considerable'importance, the present in vention lends itself very 'well to rapid manufacturing techniques, and is highly economical from the standpoint of Thus, briefly stated, the present' bowl construction comprises a generally h ollow bowl of corncobor thelike having an aperture in its bottom'wall, and 'ap'r tured plates on either side of the bottom wall: in register with its'oper'iing, with means interconneet ing the plates and 'saridwich'ing the bottom wall of the bowl therebetweem DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective of thecorncobbowl;

FlG. 2 is an enlarged eemmrsection of the bowl, taken through theiiltinell-fll of FIG. 1;

FlG. 3'is an overhead plan view ofthe bowl; and FIG. 4is a fragmentary, xpisdedjsers ecsve view showing eyelet when the same arrives at such'position. Next, the fireresistant inner plate element 20 is picked up from a'predetermined position by the rising arhor and eyelet, with the elongated barrel portion ofthe eyelet passing through the central aperture in the annular plate element. Following'this, the bowl member 12 is placed over'the upright arbor eyelet, and plate element 20 (or, alternatively, is picked up by this assembly of arbor, eyelet, and plate), with the upwardly-extending shank or barrel of the eyelet passing upwardly through the opening beyond the bottom walll'6 in the same manner as the other components just described, following which only a small extent of the eyelet barrel protrudes outwardly beyond the outer plate.

. As will be'un'derstood, the basic assembly of the bowl components just described can readily be accomplished by automated equipment in avery rapid manner. The final step in the l assembly process is the downward excursion of a generally tubular plunger member 36, which comes into contact with the brief protruding extremity of the eyelet barrel, notedabove.

Plunger 36'a'pplies downward pressure against the end of the eyeletbarrcl, in'opposition' to the arbor 30, and this pressure together with a-rotary motion imparted to the plunger with respect to the 'arborforms the outer enlargement 26 of the V eyelet described hereinnbove. That is, the protruding portion the pre sentbowl constructionand tools'used in the manufacture and assemblythereof.

' "PREFERREDEMEODIMENT Referringmorespeeifically to the drawings the bowl conas well as the customary scraping and other similar abusive of the eyelet barrel becomes laterally enlarged into a collarlike formation, in a manner generally referred to as "spinning" the eyelet. Thus, the entire assembly and manufacture of the completed bowlconstruction according to the invention can be done in a very rapid'and fully automated manner, producing corncob bowls for smoking pipes which have an absolutely strong and very long-lasting bottom extremity that will amply withstand the elevated temperatures created during smoking,

treatment normally encountered.

It is entirely conceivable that upon examining the foregoing disclosure, those skilled in the art may devise particular embodiments of the concepts forming the basis of the invention which differ somewhat from the preferred embodiment shown and described herein, or may make various changes in structural details to the present embodiment. Consequently, it is to be recognized that the preferred embodiment shown and described is for purposes of general illustration only and is in no way intended to illustrate all possible forms of the invention.

lclaim:

l. A bowl construction for a smoking pipe, comprising: a bowl member having a side wall and a bottom wall, together defining a hollow interior cavity; said bottom wall having an aperture therein; a perforate plate element of heat-resistant material disposed within said cavity and above said bottom wall, said plate having an opening therein aligned with said bottom wall aperture; and a fastener means having a portion disposed within said aligned bottom' wall aperture and plate element opening, said fastener means securing said plate in place with respect to said bottom wall.

2. The bowl construction for smoking pipes of claim I, wherein said fastener means has a longitudinal axis coincident with the axis of said aligned aperture and opening, and lateral enlargement portions engaging said plate element and said bottom wall.

3. The bowl construction for smoking pipes of claim 2, wherein saidfastener means extends through both said plate element and said bottom wall, and said enlargement portions are located above said plate and below said wall to sandwich the same together.

4. The bowl construction for smoking pipes of claim 3, wherein said fastener means comprises a generally tubular member.

5. The bowl construction for smoking pipes of claim 1, wherein said perforate plate is an annular disk. 1

6. The bowl construction for smoking pipes of claim 5, wherein said fastener means extends through both said disk and said bottom wall and has lateral projections engaging said disk and bottom wall to hold the two together.

7. The bowl construction for smoking pipes of claim 1, further including a reinforcement plate member disposed beneath said bottom wall and attached to said fastener means to anchor the same.

8. The bowl construction for smoking pipes of claim 7, wherein said reinforcement plate has an opening through it disposed in alignment with said bottom wall aperture and said plate element opening, said fastener means extending through all of said aligned openings and aperture.

9. A method of manufacturing bowls for smoking pipes, comprising the steps:

providing a bowl member having side and bottom walls and an opening in said bottom wall;

positioning a heat-resistant plate element within said bowl and adjacent said bottom wall; and

attaching said plate element to said bottom wall by a fastening means inserted through said bottom wall opening and secured in such position.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said fastening means is secured by the step of enlarging at least one ofits end extremities.

11. The method of claim 9, further including the step of placing a reinforcement plate against the outside of said bottom wall and securing the same in place by said fastening means.

12. The method of claim ll, wherein said fastening means is secured by the step of forming enlargements at both of its ends immediately beyond said plates, thereby sandwiching said plates and bottom wall together.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein both of said plates have apertures and said fastening means comprises a generally tubular eyelet element having one enlarged end, said steps comprising aligning said plate apertures with said bottom wall opening, passing the other end of said eyelet element through said aligned apertures and opening, and enlarging said other eyelet end adjacent one plate to sandwich the plates and bottom wall together. 

